First Day of Class

Today was our first day of class. I got up at 8am, and packed a lunch and breakfast and headed up the hill. I got my free birthday cookie from the Cage (I wasn't planning on being on campus tomorrow, my birthday, but it turns out I will), and ate breakfast and read the paper. I checked my email and hung out with Katie during Chapel.

After that relaxing morning, I took the plunge and am now in the full swing of school and all the hectic activities that go with it. 10:45 I have Anthropologic Theory, which seems like a fun and interesting class. At 11:50 I have Russian and Eurasian Politics, which also seems like an interesting class. At 12:55 I have Women in Politics in Asia, which I think will be a very different Political Science class than any other I have taken. At 2 I have Intro to Women's Studies, which will be fun and exciting and relaxing.

All of my professors are amazing. Tom Williamson, my Anthro prof, is a favorite of most students of the department. This is my first class with him. He seems really awesome. We listened to a clip of "This American Life" about talking to kids. He is funny and easy to listen to.

John Patrick Dale (MCKA Paddy Dale) is from Liverpool, went to Essex and the University of Moscow and started teaching at St. Olaf with a focus in Soviet Politics in 1988. Bad timing. So he switched his focus to Russian and Russian satelites politics, and have focused on Central Europe as well. He is so entertaining and endearing. He is the prof leading the trip abroad I am doing in January to Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia.

Nanaho Hanada is the new visiting professor for the political science department. She's from Japan, but she went to college in Montana and Ohio. Her hometown, Osaka, has 8 million people. The colleges in Montana, Ohio and Minnesota do not. She is super cute and peppy. And humble. She laughed at herself endearingly. "I was a gymanast. What happened to me?"

Nancy Thompson is such an endearing weirdo. She giggles at seemingly random moments (she giggled at the spelling of my name, for example). She says really weird things in really weird ways. I like her. She's an art history professor, if that helps explain anything. Her hair is fuzzy and unkempt and her glasses are thick and her clothes seem to just happen to be there, like she doesn't even notice them.

Anyway, after classes, I ran down Thorson hill and home to meet Chris, the guy who installed our internet. Turns out the internet cable got ruined when they replaced the sod and sidewalks, so they've laid a cable for us today and will come back and bury it next week. We are getting my new modem and router (free after rebate!) in the mail soon, so we can return the rental.

Then I ran back up the hill for a GLOW coordinator meeting, and am now waiting for the GSC leaders meeting.

Yay busy school!

My Summer of Love and The History Boys

In the boredom at my apartment from having neither TV nor internet yet (I didn't even bring reading books!), I have been watching movies. It's a very nice evening activity. I suppose I could play N64 when I run out of movies, but our internet is getting hooked up Wednesday afternoon. Which is the night the new cycle of ANTM premieres, so we damn well better have TV!

Anyway, My Summer of Love is a fantastic movie. It's about 2 young British women who are on school holiday and meet, and find, in each other, escape from their live. Tamsin is a rich girl who wants excitement and to be away from her family. Mona is a poor girl who wants to get away from her born-again brother. It gets pretty f-ed up. It sounds like a love story where they will be devoted to each other until family tears them apart, but they tear themselves apart.

The History Boys is a British film about getting into Oxford. A group of 8 young men get excellent marks on their exams, and spend an extra semester preparing for their entrance exams and interviews. The characters are interesting and deep (and hormonal), the dialogue witty and meaningful and smart. If you have trouble following fast dialogue, you will be bored. If you need action in the movies you watch, you will be bored. If you like learning, or at least appreciate education, you will enjoy it.

A surprise!

Well, as I walked to Fireside to check my mail today between work shifts, I ran into my friend Mathmat (his name it Mat, he's good at math). He is a JC in in Mohn (the awkward dorm, in both name and aesthetics) this year. He somehow got the information that one of my classes had been canceled!

Thanks for letting us know, Registrar.

So, now I think I will be able to add that Statistics concentration! Golly! Am I overambitious? Or do I just like to get credit for majors that apply to me for classes I would take anyway?

If the prof allows me to add the class, I will take Statistical Modeling instead of The Arab World (my prof didn't get her work visa approved, so she is stuck at home in Jordan instead of teaching us in Minnesota). Stats 272 allows me to take Research Design next spring, and 2 other classes my senior year. I just have to talk to her and see if my AP Calc credits count toward Calc 1 in the concentration.

~~~~EDIT~~~~~
The class has a long waiting list. I guess I shall take a political science class instead: Women in Politics in Asia. Never mind, no stats concentration...

Work work work

Today, I woke up at 5:05.

It was really early. My weekend newspaper wasn't even delivered yet! I got up before the newspaper was delivered. I don't think I've ever done that before.

I got ready, and took a brisk walk to school (it's a 15 minute brisk walk while cutting through the football field, which may not actually take any time off. I slowly strolled up to campus in 22 minutes yesterday). It was still dark and very cool, but not cold.

I got inside Buntrock and oh man, it was so warm! I just broke out in a sweat, and had to wipe my face with a paper towel before putting on my visor.

Then I spent 8.03 hours setting up serving stations, making sandwiches and changing out desserts for work. The hard work was inside, the easy work was outside, but it was hot!

Still, money!

Now, I'm going to go and pay my rent. : ) We get internet on Wednesday.

New Apartment

Yesterday, I finished moving in to my new apartment. It's a nice place. Our living room is bare-looking at the moment, but all we have is a coffee table, a couch and a TV on a small table with an N64. We're getting another couch on Monday, and an antenna for the TV hopefully soon. My roommate's S.O. is allergic to dogs, and our couch has a light coat of dog hair on it. Poor guy. He had to change clothes after he helped us shove it up to our apartment.

My room is all put together. These are some pictures. When the living room and kitchen get figured out, I'll put pics of up those, as well.

This is my desk area, including my balance ball/chair.
This is my bed/futon, including my finishedt-shirt blanket. Yay! I finished it!
And my dresser and bookshelf. See the swords? My dad gave those to me yesterday, too. I managed to get them on the wall, balancing precariously on thumbtacks. Or pushpins? I don't know what they're called. Like my hula hoop? : )

Now I have to pay bills, too. Suck... yay adulthood?

I start work tomorrow. 6:30-2:30. Good times......

What Not To Do With Chickens

When one owns a flock or chickens that are allowed to roam around during the day and are locked up at night, do not lock them away too late at night. They will fall asleep somewhere they're not supposed to. When you try to rouse them, they will be stupid.

If you try to carry a chicken to where it is supposed to be, it will flap to try to get away from you and then fall to the ground, completely disoriented. It will then lay there for a good minute or two, trying to go back to sleep. Its instincts will kick in eventually and it will go where it is supposed to.

If you push a chicken off, the same thing will happen, only it will fall rather heavily to the ground in an uncontrolled fall. You might worry for a few minutes if it has broken it's neck.

If you try carry a chicken by its legs instead of its body, it will fall asleep on your arm once it has secure footing. Your arm will be scratched up. Once a chicken has a secure footing, it does not like to let go.

If you poke a chicken awake, take away the rest of its flock, and hope it goes down too because you're secretly scared of it, it will eventually go down. It will walk in the wrong direction for two minutes, try to walk through chicken wire, and wander listlessly back to the coop.

If it weren't so dark, it'd be funny to watch. Unfortunately, I couldn't see them very well. I could sure feel the scratches, though. They weren't deep and have already faded.

BTdubs, blanket finished! Moving day tomorrow!

JAWS!

My jaw hurts.

It sucks.

I think it's partially from my wisdom teeth moving around and screwing up all the pain I suffered through when I had braces. Also, I've been clenching my jaw a lot (probably from stress), so I think that's part of it.

I want to make a dentist appointment, but our dental insurance changed to Lincoln Financial, and I can't find a list of dentists anywhere on their website, so I don't know where I can go to get my teeth looked at, or my wisdom teeth removed. Silly insurance companies.

If I knew anything about how the health care industry or the economy worked, I would have a really strong opinion about it!